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The Best of the Worst in the NFL

After two weeks of NFL action, there are still eight winless teams. If the New York Jets can take care of Andrew Luck and Indianapolis Colts tonight on Monday Night Football, we will have nine winless teams. Most of these teams are surprisingly winless while the Chicago Bears and Houston Texans stink to the high heavens. Let's take a look at each team and see which opponent on their schedule should provide them with their first victory of the season.

Seattle Seahawks (0-2)

Known for the their defense, the Seahawks have allowed the third most points in the NFL this season, including 34 to the St. Louis Rams. The same Rams team that just lost to the Washington Redskins. Russell Wilson has looked great, completing 71.8% of his 71 pass attempts, for 451 yards, yet he has just 3 TDs to 2 INTs. He has added 109 rushing yards on 18 scrambles. The most glaring concern is that Marshawn Lynch has more targets than Jimmy Graham. Graham caught a TD in Week 1, Doug Baldwin and Fred Jackson caught touchdowns on Sunday Night. Beast Mode has just 33 rush attempts and is averaging 3.5 yards per carry.

The Seahawks host the winless Chicago Bears in Week 3, so the reigning NFC Champs should be 1-2 heading into Week 4.

Baltimore Ravens (0-2)

Football is impossible to predict. After shutting out Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos aeriel attack, Derek Carr torched the Ravens secondary for 351 yards and 3 touchdowns. Both Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree went over 100 yards with a score. TE Crockett Gilmore has caught both of Joe Flacco's touchdowns, while the opposing defense have intercepted him three times. Flacco has limited pass catching options, but it was nice to see Steve Smith go off for 150 yards in Week 2. For all the hype around Justin Forsett being paired with OC Marc Trestman, he has gained just 25 receiving yards on 8 receptions, on top of 111 rushing yards on 29 attempts.

The Ravens could be 0-4, with the Bengals and Steelers up next, before finally getting a win over the Cleveland Browns in Week 5 at home.

Philadelphia Eagles (0-2)

DeMarco Murray has 11 rushing yards, on 21 attempts. That is not a typo. Darren Sproles 44 rushing yards leads the team after two games. Ryan Mathews has seen just 4 rushing attempts and 4 targets. Chip Kelly is asking a lot of Sam Bradford, who has completed 66.3% of his 89 pass attempts for 560 yards, 2 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. This has made Jordan Matthews fantasy owners very happy as he is averaging 8 catches for 91 yards with a TD. But no other Eagles receiver has more than Nelson Agholor's 8 targets! Sproles and Zach Ertz
each have 14 and Murray has 10. The defense has saved them from truly being embarrassed, as they held the Falcons and Cowboys to just 46 total points.

At this point in 2014, Murray had 285 yards through his first two games and people were extrapolating his numbers and wondering if he could break Eric Dickerson’s 30-yard-old single-season rushing record. (At that pace, he would have had 2,280 yards over 16 games, well over Dickerson’s mark.)

Murray’s pace this year: 176 yards, a total he surpassed in a single game last season. - For the Win

With two road games up next, the Eagles will have a tough time against the New York Jets and depending on which Washington Redskins team shows up, could be 0-4, but I doubt it.

Detroit Lions (0-2)

Remember how I said football is impossible to predict? Well the Detroit Lions played a Minnesota Vikings team that allowed Carlos Hyde to rush for 168 rushing yard, scoring twice. So what did the Lions do? Pass the ball 53 times and run the ball 16 times, including 4 by Matthew Stafford! Ameer Abdullah led the Lions with 6 carries for 9 yards. Calvin Johnson owners were happy with the aerial assault leading to 10 receptions for 83 yards and a Megatron touchdown. Abdullah and Joique Bell have combined for just 23 attempts, and if the Lions keep up this game plan, they will be difficult to own in fantasy football.

It could be Week 6 before the Lions win a game. They host the Broncos, before flying to Seattle and then returning home to play the Cardinals. A home game against the Bears could be the only thing that saves the Lions season.

New Orleans Saints (0-2)

You can understand why Drew Brees and the Saints offense would struggle and lose to the Cardinals on the road. But hosting Jameis Winston and the Bucs in the Superdome should be an automatic win! Brees has been spreading the ball around to Brandin Cooks, Brandon Coleman, Marques Colston and Mark Ingram, who all have at least 12 targets, but it has produced just two touchdowns. Ingram has struggled to run the ball, averaging just 3.1 ypc, but has gained 103 receiving yards which is nice. Fantasy owners hoped the return of C.J. Spiller would spark the offense, but he caught his only target for 10 yards.

A Week 5 matchup with Eagles could give the Saints their first W, but if they can't win on the road, it could be an 0-7 start for the Saints before hosting the New York Football Giants in Week 8.

New York Giants (0-2)

The Giants could EASILY be 2-0, allowing last minute game winning drives to both Tony Romo and Matt Ryan. Eli Manning and Odell Beckham finally hooked up for a long TD, and he has not thrown any interceptions, but he did cough up the ball in the Red Zone on Sunday. Shane Vereen
has caught 12 of his 13 targets for 122 yards, but without Victor Cruz and Rueben Randle being invisible, the Giants offense is not clicking. Rashad Jennings (2.9 ypc) is going to have to give way to Andre Williams (4.8 ypc) if things keep going the way they are.

Thursday Night Football will be a toss-up against the Redskins before they head to Buffalo. Even Week 5 against the Niners could be a struggle, as will the Eagles, Cowboys sans Tony Romo and the Saints before a road game in Tampa and an automatic loss to the Patriots in Week 10. If the Giants enter their Week 11 BYE without a win, I wouldn't be surprised!

The Worst of the Worst

Chicago Bears (0-2)

Jay Cutler was removed from the game with a hamstring injury and Alshon Jeffery did not play. Tough to win under those circumstances. Not giving the Bears an excuse, because they are bad. Carson Palmer had a field day against the Bears secondary, throwing 4 touchdowns on just 17 completions for 185 yards. Larry Fitzgerald caught 3 of them. The Bears have now allowed the most points in the NFL at 79. Matt Forte should see a ton of attentions from opposing defenses moving forward if Cutler and or Jeffery miss extended time.

If the Raiders are for real, we could see the Bears lose a LOT of game before winning, if they can not take down the Lions in Week 6 before their BYE. Maybe a Week 8 matchup with Vikings could prove me wrong, but they have a tough schedule.